The problem started after the city upgraded its public safety communications system in August.

“Our issues can really come down to having a hard time understanding the clarity of some of the transmissions that were coming through,” said Roseville Police spokesman Rob Baquera.

It’s a dangerous problem for officers to have in the field. They rely on dispatchers as a lifeline. Roseville Police say it’s concerned about officer safety and has come up with a temporary plan.

“We have moved now to a temporary staffing situation where we have two officers per patrol car,” Baquera added

The department is also using a backup communication system while the kinks in the new one are worked on in case of a critical incident.

“Anytime you are doing any major technology transfer like this you are gonna have some glitches,” said Paul Niemann, a public safety radio communication expert.

Niemann says these glitches are pretty risky and could open the door to catastrophic incidents. The City of Oakland upgraded to a new radio system about 10 years ago, and failed in 2012, during a visit from President Obama. Oakland police officers couldn’t communicate for about a half hour.

“This shows one of the reasons why officer safety is so paramount for officers to be able to communicate,” Baquera said.

He says the new system was tested before it rolled out, but couldn’t tell CBS13 for how long.